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Hornets 109, Wizards 98

Chris Paul has six triple-doubles this season and two of them have come against the Wizards.

Tonight's 30-point, 13-assist, 10-rebound effort was as good as it gets and proof of why the guy is my single favorite player to watch in the league. He's simply dominant without appearing to have to play at full speed.

New Orleans shot 52.6 percent and Rasual Butler made six three-pointers and Paul was the driving force behind both. At different points, the Wizards used Dominic McGuire, Mike James, Juan Dixon and Javaris Crittenton on Paul but once the little guy got rolling it was a wrap.

The Hornets came out flat and the Wizards took advantage by building 12-point leads in the first and second quarters but once Paul got aggressive, the Hornets took over.

"He is great, what else is there to say," Hornets coach Byron Scott said. "He took over at the offensive end and was a little more aggressive when it came to looking for his own shot."

As usual, the third quarter killed the Wizards. The Hornets held a 40-22 scoring edge in the period and used a 9-0 run to break the game open.

"We threw just about everything we had at Chris Paul to give us a reasonable chancce to disrupt him," interim coach Ed Tapscott said. "The amazing thing about him is his patience. He goes to a spot and has a complete comfort and patience in that spot. He may have three or four guys around him, but he's go the ball on a string and he waits for you to make a move and then he counters."

Comments

Proof that a pure PG can do more damage than just having many big men. Gil is not that PG. Ricky Rubio is the way to go with JC as a backup. Move Gil to SG, Butler to SF, AB to PF, Haywood at C. Now, I won't complain if we get Griffin but for goodness stake give Thabbet (sp) a rest. We do not need a poor man Munute Bol.

Posted by: demonj21 | March 11, 2009 10:28 PM

hey look at the bright side: Jamison and Butler are still getting their 40+ minutes per game.

seriously, shouldn't we give some more minutes to the youngins to get them more experience? CB and AJ can still play 30 minutes a night...

Posted by: sargeantmofo | March 11, 2009 10:36 PM

sargeantmofo, I don't understand that myself. With 17 games left to play what do Jamison and Butler have to prove? They proved that we can lose with them and we'll lose without them. These last 17 games should be focused on youth.

Posted by: demonj21 | March 11, 2009 10:42 PM

What the lesson is about Chris Paul is a coach understanding his players and letting and facilitating them to excel.

I was listening to Doc Walker today and he was talking about the meltdown of G'Town. He was adamant that they did not have a leader on the Team and that the Princton offense was not the cause of their demise.

He made the analogy that when it came to crunch time Michael Jordan and Kolby don't run no triangle offense. You give them the ball and they take the Team on their backs because they are leaders. They are winners and they ain't settling for seconds.

Now, who is doing that for the Wizards this year. Nobody is, and when you put incompetent coaching on top of it what we see is what we get.

Say all you want about Gilbert Arenas, but on that floor, he is a leader. With him back and Haywood along with a big mean tough guy, to go along with AB, JM, AJ, CB, DB, JC, NY, DM, & DStev, this Team is night and day.

And trust me JC will run the point with Gilbert at the 2, and we gonna be shakin and bakin and runnin and gunnin and we gonna be playin defense two.

"I was listening to Doc Walker today and he was talking about the meltdown of G'Town. He was adamant that they did not have a leader on the Team and that the Princton offense was not the cause of their demise.

He made the analogy that when it came to crunch time Michael Jordan and Kolby don't run no triangle offense. You give them the ball and they take the Team on their backs because they are leaders. They are winners and they ain't settling for seconds.

Posted by: LarryInClintonMD | March 11, 2009 11:04 PM "

Sorry, but the leader of the GU team, as has always been is either JT2 or JT3.

They don't improvise. They get plays from the dictator himself, and run them, lest they be chewed out.

Posted by: DC_MAN88 | March 11, 2009 11:15 PM

I'm hear you, LarryInClintonMD, I hear you!

Posted by: dabnjab | March 12, 2009 2:27 AM

Oops, enthusiasm wins over grammar. And to think that I edit for a living...

Posted by: dabnjab | March 12, 2009 2:28 AM

demonj21: "Proof that a pure PG can do more damage than just having many big men. Gil is not that PG."

I'm a big fan of PGs, but have you noticed how few of the really good 'pure' PGs wind up with NBA rings? I don't really have a good explanation for that. If the position is so important, it seems reasonable that the championship clubs would tend to have the best PGs. But for the most part, they don't.

You know what they do seem to have? With some notable exceptions, they tend to have the best big men.

Posted by: Samson151 | March 12, 2009 6:54 AM

At least Jamison and Butler got at least 43 minutes last night. Those guys need the work.

Both Jamison and Butler are in the top 7 league-wide in minutes per game. Perhaps that is Tapscott's key goal for the remainder of the season -- to make them both top 5. Yeah!! What a sweet accomplishment that would be!!

Posted by: disgruntledfan | March 12, 2009 7:54 AM

Oh, and Jamison is #1 in the league in total minutes played!! Awesome!! So smart for a soon-to-be 33 year old!

Posted by: disgruntledfan | March 12, 2009 8:51 AM

"I'm a big fan of PGs, but have you noticed how few of the really good 'pure' PGs wind up with NBA rings? I don't really have a good explanation for that. If the position is so important, it seems reasonable that the championship clubs would tend to have the best PGs. But for the most part, they don't.

You know what they do seem to have? With some notable exceptions, they tend to have the best big men.

Posted by: Samson151 | March 12, 2009 6:54 AM "

You mean like Isiah Thomas, Chauncey Billups, and Tony Parker?

BTW, DWade is listed as a SG, but he's got great skills as a PG and may end his career as a PG.

How many shoot first, ball hogging, no D playing PG's do you know of that won championships?